Festival in Southwest always attract many people to participate yearly. These festivals carry with them interesting cultural meanings and regional customs. It would be best if you experienced the bustling atmosphere of these festivals fully.
This article, yourvietnam.org will summarize the top 9 most significant festivals in the South!
Ba Chua Xu Festival of Sam Mountain – Festival in Southwest
Festivals in the South cannot help but mention the Ba Chua Xu Festival. Ba Chua Xu Festival (Via Ba) occurs at Ba Chua Xu Temple, at the foot of Sam Mountain, Chau Doc City, An Giang. The festival is held annually on April 23 – April 27 of the lunar calendar.
But Via Ba Day is April 25 because of the day her statue was discovered. Every year during the holiday season, many visitors from far and wide come here to worship. With the wish for a prosperous year, all disasters will pass. The ceremony starts from April 23 until 0:00 that night.
Visitors can watch the ritual of bathing her with rainwater mixed with perfume. And change her into new clothes. The next day, visitors will see the procession of nine virgin girls carrying her down from the top of the mountain. It was just a repeat of the old spectacle of her caravan.
Besides these unique festivals, folk arts and culture are also performed, such as lion dance, tray dance, plate and bowl dance, etc. It is a festival imbued with national cultural identity. It is also an important historical and architectural relic of the province and region.
In 2001, the Ministry of Culture and Information and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism recognized this festival in Southwest as a National Festival.
Don Ta – Delta Festival – Festivals in the South
Don Ta Festival, also known as the “Forgiveness of the Dead” ceremony, is a holiday celebrated by the Khmer people. If Kinh people have the Vu Lan festival, Khmer people also have the Don Ta festival. It is a ceremony to worship ancestors for three days annually from August 29 to September 1 of the lunar calendar.
According to the customs of the Khmer people, they do not organize annual death anniversaries for the dead. Therefore, they hold ceremonies to remember their deceased grandparents and pray for blessings for the living.
On these days, Khmer people pay homage to their deceased grandparents. Next, they will give gifts to living grandparents and parents. Then comes the family reunion dinner. They also went to the temple to hold the ceremony, but before going, they lit incense to invite their deceased grandparents to come to the temple to hold the ceremony.
During the Don Ta festival in Southwest, there will be many cultural performances and five-syllable music at the pagodas. There are many fun folk games, Lam – to dance,… helping the holiday become exciting and joyful. Especially in An Giang, the land of Bay Nui, there is also a traditional bull racing festival that attracts many tourists.
Khmer New Year Festival Chol Chnam Thmay
The unique festival in the Southwest that needs to be mentioned is the Chol Chnam Thmay Festival. Also known as the coming-of-age ceremony, it is the biggest festival of the Khmer people.
The ceremony takes place for three consecutive days according to the traditional calendar of the Khmer people, which is at the beginning of the Khmer month of Chet. Chol Chnam Thmay is also a New Year holiday in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.
When tourists visit areas where many Khmer people live, such as Soc Trang, An Giang, and Tra Vinh,… visitors will encounter the bustling atmosphere of people preparing for their traditional Tet. It resembles the Lunar New Year customs of the Kinh people in the Southwest region.
Every time the festival comes, people clean their houses. Everyone sews new clothes for themselves, wraps banh Tet, and prepares fruits, incense, and lamps to worship Buddha.
Traditionally, Khmer New Year will be held at Khmer temples. But today, living in a community with Vietnamese people has influenced Vietnamese customs. So they also celebrate New Year’s Eve and worship their grandparents at home during the Chol Chnam Thmay holidays.
During this holiday, Khmer people also organize many fun games such as lighting sky lanterns, spinning fire, etc. It is also one of the typical cultural festivals of the West, attracting tourists from many places to come here.
Kathina Festival – Festival in the South
Kathina Festival, also known as the flower and robe offering ceremony of Khmer people in Soc Trang province. The ceremony happens after three months of summer retreat.
According to the regulations of Khmer Theravada Buddhism, temples will choose a specific day. And notify the Buddhists in the village to prepare for the Kathina ceremony. Therefore, each Phum Soc in each province will have a different organization date, but it usually takes place in 2 days.
During this festival, people will invite monks to chant sutras and pray for peace for the homeowner. The second day is the most crowded because, on this day, all the residents in the hamlet hold the Kathina procession. People will offer items including robes and alms bowls. And essential offerings serve the monks’ daily activities.
The Sa – -Dat drum team and the Ro – hash team are Accompanying. With dozens of young women, they lined up in two rows to return to the temple and offer it to the monks. It is a festival that is not simply about providing robes.
This festival in Southwest also contributes to preserving the good values of Buddhism. And create closeness and friendliness in the Buddhist community in Vietnam.
Song Wen Festival in Southwest
Tong On Festival is a festival in the West that dates back to land reclamation. Because many diseases harm humans, southern people at that time thought ghosts and hidden people caused it. Therefore, they hold the Tong On ceremony, sending off evil spirits and diseases that harm people.
To prepare for the Tong On ceremony, people prepare offerings to the gods in advance and a boat to place the offerings. After finishing, light the incense and pray, take it to the river, and let the boat float along the water with the desire to take away nasty illnesses, overcome accidents, and lead a peaceful and happy life.
==> Learn more festival in Sapa
Seven Mountains Bull Racing Festival
Bay Nui Bull Racing Festival is a festival of the Khmer ethnic group. Rich in folk culture and a unique sport in the Bay Nui region. They held the Khmer Dolta holiday, on the 30th day of the 8th lunar month every year in Tri Ton district, An Giang province.
People will choose the fastest and healthiest pair of cows. And take care of them so they can rest, exercise, and eat according to their diet. After two months, this pair of cows can go out to race and have a driver.
Every year, on the occasion of the bull racing festival, the atmosphere is highly bustling and attractive. The festival attracted thousands of visitors, and neighboring provinces showed up very early.
Southern Folk Cake Festival – Western Cake Festival
The Southern Folk Cake Festival is an attractive Western cake festival. They are held annually at the national level in the city of Can Tho. The festival has the participation of more than 100 booths and is one of the important cultural and tourist events.
It aims to introduce and promote folk cakes and Southern cuisine. At the same time, it contributes to preserving and promoting warm cultural values.
Coming to the festival in Southwest, visitors have the opportunity to enjoy folk cakes, find childhood memories, and learn about traditional national culture. In addition, the festival also has other special musical performances. Such as traditional folk music performances, Khmer and Cham dances, gong dances, traditional Vovinam martial arts performances, calligraphy, art drawing,…
Tan Loc Fruit Garden Festival – Western Fruit Festival
The unique Western fruit festival is known as the Tan Loc Fruit Garden Festival. They are held annually at the Doan Ngo festival. It is an opportunity to honor the cultural lifestyle and labor achievements of the people.
At the same time, promote the promotion and introduction of the garden ecotourism potential of Tan Loc island. It is contributing to the diversity of festival culture in the South.
In particular, the festival in Southwest has unique competitions promoting garden culture. Such as the folk dance and fruit costume contest; contest “Food stall decoration, featured products” contest “Strange plants, roots and fruits”; decorating and shaping fruit artistically; a round of dishes and coconut products; bonsai and bonsai competitions; performance of pouring pancakes for Doan Ngo Tet,…
==> Learn more festival in Saigon
Nghinh Ong Festival
Nghinh Ong Festival (Nghinh Ong Thuy Tuong Festival) is a festival with a long tradition of coastal fishermen and seafarers. It is a festival to commemorate the merits of whales – the Great General God of the South Sea because he has repeatedly helped people overcome solid waves and winds at sea.
Before the festival in Southwest, there were hundreds of large and small fishing boats decorated with flags and flowers moored. To carry out the ritual of taking him to the sea with the fishermen’s worshiping ceremonies it is very solemn.
Besides, the fishermen also invite each other, including guests from far away places, to come here to eat, drink, have fun, and chat intimately with each other.
Ky Yen Festival in Southwest
Another Western festival is the Ky Yen festival, which means praying for peace. It is the most significant sacrificial ceremony of the year at a communal house in Southern Vietnam. Every year, village communal houses in the South have two offerings: Thuong Dien (when the fields finish) and Ha Dien (when the fields begin).
There may also be a separate ceremony depending on each locality. Currently, the Ky Yen festival occurs for three days and includes many sacrifices. Some villages, after the tradition of inviting the tutelary god, also organize a Ceremony.
That means taking the palanquin to temples and shrines in the town, offering incense, and praying to ask the gods to come to the temple to attend the ceremony. When finished, bring the incense burners of these gods back on the palanquin. And place it on the incense table outside the communal house or on the Foreign Council table inside the communal house.
Ok Om Bok moon worship festival Southwest
Another festival in Southwest is the Ok Om Bok Moon Worshiping Festival of the Southern Khmer people. You can call this festival by another name, the Moon Worshiping Ceremony or “Putting Com Flat.” The ceremony takes place on the 14th and 15th of the 10th lunar month every year.
For the Khmer people, the Moon is considered a god. This god helped them regulate the weather and protect the fields. And this festival also brings a bountiful harvest, bringing prosperity and prosperity to the people living here.
Therefore, after a harvest, Khmer people will conduct the Moon Worshiping Ceremony. To express sincere thanks to the Moon God. And also to bless them, as well as pray for good weather in the next crop season.
Since then, the Ok Om Bok festival has been born, and on this holiday, almost every family participates. This festival often takes place in the provinces of Soc Trang and Tra Vinh… where large numbers of Khmer ethnic people mainly live.
To sum up, festival in Southwest always bring cultural values and bold human identity here. Yourvietnam.org hopes you will attend at least one of the festivals mentioned above.
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==> Learn more festival in Ha Noi
==> Learn more festival in Hue
